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Zurich

The first of our 4 shows under the command of klaus Hoffmann begins. He is normally our local German production promoter rep and was a rigger for us on the US tour when we were in Germany.

Everything went very well tonight, it seemed that Peter had relaxed since Verona. We sang happy birthday to the lovely Cellist Caroline Lavel and then at the end of the show Peter dedicated ‘In Your Eyes’ to one of our viola players Rachel Robson as her boyfriend had just proposed to her.

PG was relaxed and in a good space. His stage antics are acquiring more PG moves, he is starting to play more with the melodies of the tunes. I would say that if the Swiss had gone for it more as a crowd, that show would have been in the top 3 so far. Performance wise Peter is finding his groove with Ane, Mel and Tom singing as tight as they ever have.

I read the Intruders blog ( http://therealintruder.blogspot.com/2010/09/171-verona-arena-2692010.html ) which I think really nails the whole idea of this tour correctly.

PG went to see sound check people again today. Lots of times he is late and cannot spend the time to meet, but now and again he tries to get out there. Afterwards he had drinks with the orchestra backstage, which never happens as he always runs after the show. He will come off stage, get into a car and drive off, to get to the airport on time to get home. But last night he relaxed more and stayed the night in Zurich, planning to come to today’s show in Mannheim by train.

It feels like the orchestra are now at their peak. They are ‘on’ all the music 100 percent. They are the best, they really spend the time getting it right and now its paying off. John Metcalfe and Ben Foster have really been pushing them in sound-checks to keep them thinking and alert.

So 3 shows to go. We are getting a bit sad, last night it felt like we should carry on another 3 weeks at least. Peter had become very happy in his new position at the front of the stage.

If you do want to see this show, start a petition wherever you are and lets see if we can go out one more time. North America anyone?